


Bored Hardcase

by BlackHunter666



Category: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Boredom, Breaking the monotony, Gen, Mud fights
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-06
Updated: 2015-02-06
Packaged: 2018-03-10 18:23:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,850
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3299441
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlackHunter666/pseuds/BlackHunter666
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Every Army has those words that are considered to be the most dangerous things possibly said. Things like a Lieutenant saying "In my experience" or a sergeant saying "Watch this"</p><p>In the GAR, the most dangerous words that can possibly uttered are simply "Hardcase is Bored"</p><p>Now Rex has to deal with the aftermath of what happens when there is nothing for Hardcase to shoot or blow up.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bored Hardcase

'Sir, this is exactly why I keep warning you both to never leave Torrent Company on extended downtime. Hardcase gets bored and the unexpected becomes a huge possibility.' Rex shrugged, looking down at the state of his armour. 'But if you think this is bad, you really don't want to see the rest of the guys.'  
'I'll make you a deal Rex. I'll help clean your armour if you tell me the full story.' Anakin offered, keeping back from Rex to avoid getting splattered.  
'Well…alright then.' Rex nodded, turning and entering his temporary quarters. 'There's an old towel on my gear bag, would you mind grabbing it out and spreading it on the floor?'  
'You'll need more than a towel.' Anakin chuckled, digging into Rex's bag and pulling out the aforementioned towel. 'Okay, maybe not.'  
'I'm no fool, General.' Rex smirked, waiting for Anakin to spread the towel on the floor before stepping onto it and starting to remove his armour plates. 'My cleaning kit is on the table over there. There are some extra cleaning rags in the front pouch of my gear bag.'

Dropping each plate around his feet, Rex looked at the state of his bodysuit and frowned, amazed by just how far the mud had spread over him during their fun. Peeling the top half of his bodysuit off, he knotted the sleeves around his waist and worked his boots off before bending over to pull the rest of his armour off.  
'Here, clean bodysuit.' Anakin offered, floating the neatly folded black cloth over to him.  
'Thank you, Sir. I'll just take a quick shower and be right back with you.' Rex nodded, grabbing the suit and heading for his small private fresher.

#^#^#^#^#^#  
FIVE HOURS EARLIER  
#^#^#^#^#^#

Shaking his head slowly as he watched Hardcase running through the mud outside their rudimentary home, Jesse had a bad feeling that they were about to witness yet another of Hardcase's bad ideas. He could only hope that this one would not turn out to be a total disaster like previous ideas had been. There had been a few good ideas but on average, it was never a success when Hardcase was bored.

The 501st had been stuck on this mudball for the last six weeks, waiting with ever decreasing patience for General Skywalker's new cruiser to be delivered after the last one blew up just above this planet. A few of the largest pieces of debris had survived the re-entry and were now being used as temporary shelter by the personnel that had escaped the chaos but the fact still remained that there wasn't enough shelter for everyone.

They had some larty gunships and a few other transports, including a mangled Acclamator that provided the best shelter but even that mighty ship wasn't enough. At least half the survivors were trying to scrape out an existence huddled under bits of debris, inside damaged walkers and wherever else they could get out of the incessant rain. Even the dozens of escape pods that had squelched down into the mud weren't enough to house all the men, they could only sleep four at a squeeze.

Trying not to think about the frigid wind blowing through the shattered window, Jesse somehow found a smile as he watched Hardcase making the best of the situation, acting a total fool as he waded through the mud and stuck his hands into the gloopy mess. He really was a child at heart, despite all his posturing and his reputation as a bit of a loose cannon. He was only like that so no one noticed just how much this war was hurting him.

Making his choice, Jesse armoured up and grabbed his helmet, fairly sure there would be trouble for this but he couldn't stay inside and wait any longer. Securing his helmet as he emerged from their wreckage that formed their small hut and ran over to where Hardcase was running around in the mud.

Figuring that they should at least try to make the best of this horrible situation, Jesse launched full stretch at Hardcase and tackled him into the mud, sending them both rolling through the sticky muck laughing like idiots.  
'Was starting to think you weren't going to come play.' Hardcase chuckled, pushing Jesse off and struggling to his feet.  
'Was trying to decide if you were totally crazy or just being you.' Jesse shrugged, getting up and wiping the mud from his visor.  
'What did you decide?' Hardcase asked, starting to circle with Jesse.  
'Not sure, I'm still thinking about it.' Jesse laughed, lunging in again and grabbing Hardcase around the shoulders.

#^#^#^#^#^#

Crawling out of the escape pod he was sharing with Dogma and a couple of shinys he hardly knew, Tup stretched his back and started to slog through the deep mud, looking for anything to do to keep his mind active. Sure, he cared about Dogma and spent a lot of time with him but after six weeks of being stuck in tight confines with him, Tup needed some other company or he was going to shove those damned reg manuals down Dogma's throat.

Six weeks of his abysmal hell and it hadn't stopped raining for most of that time. Even when it did stop raining, it was so dreary and muddy outside their random shelters that no one really wanted to go outside. That reluctance had left everyone with a bad case of cabin fever and a growing desire to leave this mudball behind. Six weeks of misery and still no word of when the new Resolute was coming to pick them up.

Hearing the rare sound of his brothers laughing freely, Tup turned and headed towards the sounds, wondering just what had managed to break the monotony of the last six weeks. Passing a smaller piece of debris, considered too small to be used as habitation, Tup smiled as he watched several of his brothers playing in the mud, tackling each other and throwing mud balls across the open space.

Making his choice, Tup crouched and grabbed a handful of the mud, feeling how it clung to his hand and still dripped between his fingers. Slinking closer to his brothers, he lined up and let fly, smirking as his projectile splattered across the turned back of one of his brothers.  
'Well hey, Tup's playing!' Hardcase called, bringing attention to where Tup was standing.  
'Oh kriff.' Tup uttered, diving for cover as dozens of mud balls came flying towards him.

Hunkering down behind one of the dozens of small bits of debris that had been scattered across the planet, Tup grabbed handfuls of mud and threw it back across the clear area, laughing freely as he was splattered in return. He didn't even care that his hair was getting caked in the mud, he was just grateful for a chance to unwind and relax.

#^#^#^#^#^#

Relieved to finally be able to give the men some good news and put and end to this horror downtime, Rex picked his way out of the debris of the Acclamator where he'd taken up residence and started towards the main area of wreckage. He would be extremely happy to get off this mudball, six weeks stuck here and he was at his wits end with the men. They were all tired of this place, they weren't meant for inactivity.

Sending runners to spread the word faster, he kept slogging through the sucking mud and hoped that General Skywalker could get the new ship back to them a lot faster than he had made it to the shipyards to pick up a replacement. It had been chaos ever since the General left, Rex was starting to lose his faith in his own capabilities to lead the men.

Hearing some of his men laughing, Rex picked up his pace a little and stepped out from behind one of the twisted gunships just as someone else darted past him covered in mud. Glancing back but unable to recognise who it was for the mud over their armour, Rex froze as a big glob of the mud splattered over his chest plate and up onto his face.  
'Oh kriff. Sorry about that, Sir.' Fives called, jogging over to him. 'I was aiming for Kix but he disappeared around behind the larty second before you stepped out.'  
'Fives…run.' Rex growled, wiping the mud from his face. 'Run or take your chances!'  
'Oh fek!' Fives yelped, spinning and taking off as fast as he could through the clogging mud.

Growling low in his throat, Rex took off after him with murder in his eyes. The rest of the men had stopped their games and stood watching as Fives and Rex ran through the mud. But as Rex continued to slowly reel Fives in, the men started to cheer them on and try to influence the outcomes of the chase.

Fending off Jesse with a well aimed elbow, Rex shoved Tup clear and kicked off, taking Fives to the ground in a massive wave of mud and flailing limbs. Rolling around in the mud, the two men soon forgot all about their audience as they broke apart and pushed to their feet. Launching a fistful of mud, Rex ducked a returning shot and tackled Fives again, laughing as more of their brothers joined in with the massive mud fight.

Pushing away from Fives, Rex shook the mud from his face and spun as someone else managed to cram mud into the gap at the top of his backplate. Grabbing Hardcase and propelling him backwards into the mud, Rex wrenched his helmet off and made sure to slather the sticky mud over Hardcase's face in a thick layer.

Grabbed around the waist and sent flying away from Hardcase, Rex landed heavily and pushed up with a laugh, grateful that someone had finally figured out how to burn their excess energy off without anyone getting hurt.  
'This is highly…ack!' Dogma had deigned to show his face and try to put a stop to the fun but he'd been slammed into the mud.  
'Enough with the regs, Dogma. Six recitals of the complete manual set is enough.' Tup growled, tackling Dogma back into the mud when he tried to scramble clear.

#^#^#^#^#^#  
PRESENT TIME  
#^#^#^#^#^#

'So you see Sir, what happens when Hardcase is bored?' Rex asked, scrubbing at his backplate and digging mud out of the enviro controls.  
'I knew Hardcase was hyperactive but I never expected he could start a full Legion mud fight.' Anakin nodded, polishing Rex's chest plate with a grin. 'Well, we've got our new cruiser now and should be able to commence the transfers soon.'  
'That would make the men happy, Sir. We've all had enough of this mudball.' Rex grinned, checking that all his systems were functioning properly. 'Just promise that if something like this happens again, you'll make sure Hardcase is kept active.'  
'Count on that, Rex.' Anakin laughed, setting the chest plate aside.  
'You have the thanks of the entire Legion Sir.' Rex replied, looking around ar his armour and sighing softly.


End file.
